DaveinLA

Well - as more of a Saturnian-sized man, I am not sure I am ready for a Colosian group, yet! Great story, Chris. You have a Colosian-sized imagination and put it to great fruition with this story! Thank you for all the work - most of us by-standers don't realize how much effort it takes to write a story like this. A zillion thanks, Dave

Hi, Chris, it is a pleasure to read something written by you. I am thinking that Christa may be in for a rough ride, here! Then, again, Chris might be in for a rough ride, as well! Thanks for this work! Dave

Let us consider, if we could, the workings of a writer of fiction. It helps to have a story! That writer must have a starting place and an ending place - and all the little fun things in the middle. Then there are characters...I am not a writer and I could write pages and pages of bland facts about what characters may be doing , where they may be going or who they may be interacting with. And if I wrote those pages, I would bore the readers on this forum to revulsion. Oh...and let us not forget that in fiction writing, the author may pick out the World in which he sets the story, the characters and the events! This is my second reading of "The Case of the Short, Short Prince" by one of my favorite authors, Mr. Geron Kees. "Short, Short Prince" is a story of magic - Mr. Kees prefers 'magick'. But this is not the cushioned, easy, soft magic of that kid we watched grow up at Hogwarts - No Sir! This magic not only has power and produces results - and consequences - but is driven by a desire of Mr. Kees very powerful characters. Oh, yeah - if you have laughed and shared joy with Charlie Boone and Kippy Lawson - you are going to dream about and write fan letters to Jamie Grimmstone and Garvin Kinsmith! And those two mentions don't even include their absolutely charismatic traveling companions! The bad guys are entertaining, also. We can't help but despise them until Mr. Kees turns some key in a lock, changes our attitude and suddenly, maybe we had a wrong impression on the bad guy! How does he do that? Then...there is the World! Mr. Kees works as a professional - he and I have traded some very light correspondence - and I have to ask...where does he find the time to let his mind roam and dream up and note all of the amazing, extraordinary details that find their way into the World, the setting and the details of the place, details of beings, details of animal life, details of foliage, that he has crafted into "Short, Short Prince"? I read in a Stephen King book once where he sometimes went to sleep and just "let the men in the basement do the work"! Perhaps that is where Mr. Kees fleshes out the myriad details that he wrote into this masterpiece. Then, have you ever tried to learn chemical matrices? Particle Physics? Engineering Load Stresses? These things can put to sleep even an interested student like a WWF sleeper hold! But - in "Short, Short Prince", our amazing author manages to describe the workings of magick - using electrums, magickons and incredibility! I have read much of what Geron Kees has written, and I would have say that this is at the top or close to the top in great quality reading of his entire portfolio. This is a great read, full of excitement, great characters, a delightful new world setting and a new perspective on 'magick'! Thank you, Geron Kees, for all the work you have put in to produce not only this one, but a list of short stories, the terrific Charlie Boone saga - and others. You have labored many hours. I and many others appreciate it. DaveinLA

Well - I guess it is time to write a review so all these commenters can glance into my mind! DaveinLA

I know that I am late to this party - but I am simply catching up on the world of Geron Kees! This story takes creativity to an exponential level in the world of teen angst stories! Mr. Kees - you are a very talently wordsmith! And while I am here, "She said my great, great, great grandson, Frit, had just come out of the stocking." is one of the funniest lines I have ever read! Thank you for all your hard work, Geron Kees. Dave

I have read two stories today by Master Wordsmith Kees (Legendary Level). I read "My Crimson Year" as well as "Goofy-Foot". "My Crimson Year" was so well crafted that I was just caught up in it like rolling in a big wave in the ocean. Andy and Donnie are such likable characters that it would take a hard hearted person, indeed, to not immediately fall in love with them. "Goofy-Foot" also has a very likable character in Jason and Master Kees is so talented that he can even make the reader like the acerbic Snark! Geron Kees has the ability to show the reader the emotional, logical and psychological reasonings of his characters. It it a talent that not many authors have. Both of these stories were written - as acknowledged by the author - as a challenge to a photo prompt. I looked at both of the photos that inspired these stories and I must say. Master Kees can certainly see more in a photo that I have ever been able to! Thank you, sir, for all of the hard work you have put into writing these enjoyable stories for the slugs like me, who simply read! Dave

I am enjoying this series, Mr. Backwoods Boy. Thanks for your work in writing and posting for us!

In this chapter was the following: “You have words for things that do not exist on your world, and we do not have words for things that exist in ours.” That is such a profoundly imaginative sentence that it makes my mind sing! What an author!

This is a beautifully told story and so imaginative that it astounds me. I am surprised there are not more chapter comments.

As I begin this, it is obvious that "Jay's Loelife" has a plethora of reviewers who have already lavished appropriate praise for a story well-planned, well-written and presented with great flair. Therefore, there really is no reason for me to write a review - except that I take pride in writing reviews that I think are well thought out and cannot miss a chance to lavish my own praise on this story. I try to make a point to never read stories that are not completed. There are several authors at GA who have works that as soon as they appear as the author, I don't even look at the story - simply because they have histories of many, many incomplete stories. For this reason, I didn't even begin "Jay's Loelife" until it showed as complete. Of course, its prequel "Boss Nanny" was a truly good read, although I didn't review it. "Jay's Loelife", however, is simply inspired! What kind of mind does an author have to have to take characters who are important - yet peripheral - to an epic story like "Boss Nanny" and write their story so that their lives dovetail so perfectly into the prequel story without breaking the storyline of either one? The only answer is a brilliant mind. "Boss Nanny" was about Seamus, Matt and Aiden. Jay Petermeyer was featured as a former college classmate and best friend of Seamus. Loran Patrick doesn't even show up very early in the story. BUT, MrsGnomie breaks Jay and Loran (Loe) out and tells their story with great flair in "Jay's Loelife". There is drama as the couple overcome very different backgrounds and years of growing up. There is drama as they bridge differences in their own personal goals and beliefs. And there is drama among their families, friends, coworkers, teammates and public fans. The great hook for the story, the magnetism that will simply not let the reader stop reading is the beautiful and great portrayal of the characters as well as how their lives change and mold those characters. There are times in the story that I would have personally choked Loran to death, thrown the body into a lane of traffic and told police he ran into traffic. There were times I would have choked Jay Petermeyer and told him he was a naïve fool. But, MrsGnomie patiently and with care nurtured her/his characters until they matured into people that I - the reader - could not help but love. And, like Aiden in "Boss Nanny" , the author also populated "Jay's Loelife" with kids that were magically adorable, friends that were gregarious and charming and family that the reader looked upon as we all look on our families - we love them, sometimes on purpose! Writing a story like this isn't like television or cinema. It take a huge amount of work to portray the lives of complicated (and who could be more complicated than Jay Petermeyer and Loran Patrick?) in prose. This is thirty-three chapters of well-written prose. Each chapter represents a huge amount of work. Thank you MrsGnomie for all of this hard work. Thank you for providing the slugs like me, who just read, with such great literature. If you are looking at this and haven't read these stories, don't wait. Just click on MrsGnomie as an author and start with "Boss Nanny" then follow with "Jay's Loelife". Go shopping before you start though. Get everything you need for however long you think it'll take you to read the chapters. It isn't likely you'll leave until you finish. Davey

The Universe of Fanfiction amazes me! I stand in awe of the thousands of people that spend zillions of hours writing 'secondary' stories based on their favorite books, games, movies and TV shows. BUT - even more amazing is the amount of fanfiction that Mrs. Rowling's stories about Harry Potter have generated. On a popular website dedicated solely to fanfiction, in the 'Books' category the series with the SECOND highest number of stories is the "Twilight" series (everyone loves Vampires and Werewolves!). That series has 222,000 stories on the site as of the writing of this review. The series with the third and fourth highest number of stories are "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "Lord of the Rings" - both which have less than 100,000 stories. The fanfiction stories for the Harry Potter series numbers 842,000. So, it is obvious that there is no small number of Harry Potter fanfiction stories to compare DKStories' Destiny series to. Over the years I have read enough to make a comparison. DKStories' 'HP and the Sword of Gryffindor' and 'HP and the Destiny of Prophecies' are both excellently written stories that definitely meander outside of the original books' canon. The author weaves a storyline that encourages the readers to soften their attitudes to some of the original characters that may not have caused such favorable reactions by helping us to admire and appreciate Draco and his parents as well as Harry's Aunt Petunia and her 'little Dudleykins'. Although Harry and Draco's lives are filled with challenges through the first (and most) of the story, there are many aspects where they are also filled with satisfaction, fulfillment and yes, a little angst. There is only one place where the reader is given a hint that there may be some subterfuge underneath everything, but it is not until the last four or five paragraphs where the diabolic plan is revealed and the author manages to end the "Destiny" series on a note that the readers will no doubt, appreciate. This is an author who, in all his stories and all his series, manages to write storylines with well-planned turns, twists and intrigue. "Destiny" should be enjoyed by all who have even a slight interest in the Harry Potter Universe. Davey

My post about Harry being pureblood at the end of the last chapter is vindicated. Thank you Narcissa!

It is always my intention to be encouraging and kind in these end-of-chapter comments. However, I have to point out a point of order here. Draco said, " 'I was so angry at Harry Potter, the mudblood who stole the House Cup from Slytherin and who didn’t want to be my best friend.' and later in the chapter Harry said, "I am not a pureblood". Both of those statements are incorrect based on the books. James, Harry's father, was from an old pureblood family. Lily was a Witch - she was born to a muggle family (I believe) - but she was a Witch. Therefore, neither of Harry's parents were mundane and so he was absolutely pureblood. Just not from a union of two old-line magical families. Just a little fact-checking on the fanfiction!

This was a very dark chapter - even for DKstories. Worthington Michael Sinclair may be try to walk the Gray path - but in this chapter he was definitely in the shadows!

Perhaps once a year, or so, I will be doing something and think to myself, "If I could go back to a younger age and know the things that I know now, what a difference it could make in my life!" This is an old theme - dozens of books have been published where a person has been returned to a younger age, an earlier time or a different time. Adam Sandler starred in a movie with this theme - and I am sure there are other movies that embrace parts of this theme, as well. But when I have those thoughts...."If I could go back in time...", I think, "maybe I should re-read Do Over!" Something I have just done. I wish I knew what happened to dkstories. Such a talented writer! There are actually four stories in the Do Over series - all four told with different results of Davey Jones returning back to a younger age. Each is an excellent story and any one could be read without having to reference the others. But the first one is the best one, in my opinion. 30-something Davey Jones agrees to participate in some obscure - and, no doubt, illegal - experiment to send someone's consciousness back in time. He participates because he is sort of down on his luck and needs the $10,000 that he is to be paid for participating! He is only supposed to be there for a very short period of time and only supposed to be able to observe - not interact. But when the experiment actually takes place, he wakes up in his body as it was when he was 12 years old. Davey is a smart guy - and realizes instantly that he should be careful to not change things because changes will, undoubtedly affect the future. But one of the first things that happens, differently to his first time around, is he has a run-in with Brian Breckenridge who he only knew as a casual acquaintance in his first time around. Brian is a jock, popular, smart - the writer describes him as the "boy all the girls want and all the boys want to be". And so, Davey's new life begins the rollercoaster ride that is the thrill of Do Over! Davey and Brian become truly a dedicated couple. Davey tries to keep the time-travel thing a secret. Davey tries to keep his love life from his Baptist Pastor father. Davey doesn't want his circumstances to change the future. All of this unravels, however. To the point of World War III. dkstories is masterful in many ways. He is able to spin a story that is believable but so extreme that one gasps as they read it. His details are as extreme as the plot line - he gives the reader details about military equipment, engagements and situations that make us feel as if we are learning from a master. He makes the characters very real, giving us glimpses into their thoughts and feelings that make the reader feel as if we actually know that character. Do Over is a great read! If you are perusing around GA and you reach this page, then don't wait, don't hesitate. Click on Chapter One and begin! Davey